Fouls cost No. 10 Kentucky in 72-61 loss to LSU

Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell yells to his players in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game against LSU at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell yells to his players in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game against LSU at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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LSU guard Bianca Lutley (3) drives against Kentucky guard A'dia Mathies (1) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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LSU forward LaSondra Barrett, front, battles Kentucky's Samarie Walker for the ball in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2000, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)— AP

LSU forward LaSondra Barrett, front, battles Kentucky's Samarie Walker for the ball in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2000, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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LSU forward LaSondra Barrett (55) drives against Kentucky guard A'dia Mathies, left, in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)— AP

LSU forward LaSondra Barrett (55) drives against Kentucky guard A'dia Mathies, left, in the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal round game at the women's Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. LSU won 72-61. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. 
For Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell, the math was simple: LSU outscored the Wildcats at the free throw line by 28 points and won by 11.

In Mitchell's opinion, what was missing from the equation in Kentucky's 72-61 loss to the Lady Tigers was a lack of desire by the 10th-ranked Wildcats.

"I thought (the Lady Tigers) were really, really tough - a lot tougher than us," Mitchell said. "From the opening tip, it looked like their desire was greater than ours. They really wanted to play for a championship (Sunday)."

The loss cost Kentucky (25-6) a shot at adding a Southeastern Conference tournament championship to its regular-season title. The Wildcats had earned the top seed in the tournament for the first time since 1982, the only previous time they won it all.

The fourth-seeded Lady Tigers (22-9) will make their first trip to the conference title game since appearing in four straight starting in 2005. Caldwell, in her first season at LSU, won six SEC titles as either a player or an assistant at Tennessee.

"I think LSU still hasn't had its big game yet," said Courtney Jones, who led the Lady Tigers with 18 points. "I think there's so much more to this team. We decided to come out and give all our effort and work hard because we wanted to win bad."

One of Kentucky's three SEC losses in the regular season had come in a 61-51 loss to LSU on Feb. 5 in Baton Rouge. The Lady Tigers put on a shooting clinic in that game, finishing 56.7 percent from the floor and 25 of 31 at the free throw line.

This time, it was more about strong defense in addition to hitting 24 of 32 foul shots in the second half. The Wildcats finished with 30 fouls.

"We clearly fouled too much," Mitchell said. "I was disappointed with that, that we could not play a cleaner game."

LSU never trailed against Kentucky and used a 10-0 run early in the game to take control. The Lady Tigers kept the Wildcats away from the basket for most of the game and forced them to take bad shots.

Though the Lady Tigers turned the ball over 14 times in the first half, they held a 22-9 rebounding advantage that turned into 10 second-chance points before halftime.

LaSondra Barrett, who leads LSU with 12.5 points per game, spent the first half in foul trouble and scored all 15 of her points after halftime, nine of them at the line.

With the game knotted 6-6, LSU reeled off the next 10 points. Theresa Plaisance hit a layup, one of 14 points by the Lady Tigers in the paint in the first half, to give LSU a 16-6 lead with 10:13 before halftime.

Kentucky answered by turning three LSU turnovers into a 6-0 run that cut the Lady Tigers' lead to 16-12 with 7:51 in the first half. LSU scored the next six, and took a 26-16 lead into halftime.